Collision
by CrimsonGear
Summary: Sometimes everything simply becomes too much to bear, Caterina realises this best when past and present collide. Rated for slight gore.


Okay... I was trying a different writing style and this is what came out - no idea if it's any good, but I felt like sharing.

Note: the change to italics is a flashback.

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><p>The hall was large, grand even, thought a young blonde woman as she came into the room. It was empty though, devoid of any life other than the woman, her pale skin illuminated by the moonlight, which was drifting through a tall window. None of the windows had curtains; they had been removed many years prior.<p>

A shiver ran up the woman's spine; she didn't like being here, the dark stains on the floor and walls making it all the worse. The colour hadn't occurred through the wood's natural aging, some was spilled wine, others – the woman shook her head, long golden locks flying around her, she wasn't going to complete the thought, less she lose her nerve and turn back, tell that bumbling oaf he was right. She smiled; if that happened, she'd never live it down.

Drawing strength from that thought the woman forced herself further into the hall, thoughts of that night drifting through her mind. To her left and right there had been people talking, some had even been dancing. The atmosphere had been light-hearted, one of cheer, of celebration.

_A young teenager stood in the middle of the room clutching her mother's hand, never in her short fourteen years of life had she seen so many people!_

"_And they're all here for me?" she questioned her mother for the umpteenth time._

_But her mother was a patient woman and smiled down kindly at her child, "Yes, my darling. Each and every one of them."_

"_Even the boys and little children?"_

_Her mother laughed, "Perhaps they are not here by choice, but they mean well. And yes, even the boys." The girl's mother smiled again and placed her free hand in the girl's curly blonde hair, ruffling it slightly._

_The girl pouted, causing her mother's smile to grow. "I'm not a child anymore, I'm studying at University!"_

"_And yet, you still cling to your mother like an infant. These people are all family, Caterina. You do know many of them."_

"_I don't see brother or father though," argued Caterina, ignoring her mother's first comment._

"_It's family only – we don't want either of those annoying men ruining our fun now do we?"_

The woman smiled. Her mother had always known she was only one of Pope Grigorio's many lovers. She hadn't cared much when the man moved on; the only thing Caterina had inherited had been the man's eyes (a trait she shared with her half-siblings). Neither Gregorio nor Francesco had been given invites to the event that should have been celebrating her admission to grad school. Caterina hadn't minded though, she knew little of either male and had cared even less.

What she did mind though had been the ensuing carnage no one predicted. Staring at the shattered window she now stood by, Caterina closed her eyes; just as she had that night, moments before all hell was due to break loose.

_Since Caterina was studying classical arts, she had agreed to play for the people in attendance, many having not heard her talent at the piano. It started slow at first, Caterina's nerves getting the better of her for the first few moments. God she felt like an idiot!_

"_Calm down, don't feel pressured to play anything you don't want to. A medley of whatever comes to mind, an improve piece, even a simple nursery rhyme. This is your party, my darling so play what you want, how you want. Don't let any bigoted monkey tell you otherwise," Caterina smiled at her mother's words and after a moment let her fingers fall back onto the keys, beginning a simple rhythm, before starting a light dance._

That was when they came.

_Glass smashed. Screams started. Absolute chaos ensued and Caterina froze._

She had frozen at the piano, staring wide eyed at the monsters that had appeared.

_Blood was spurting everywhere._

Those dark stains were everywhere.

_She couldn't move._

She gripped herself and closed her eyes, willing the memories away, instead only drifting further, reality slipping from her grasp until just as ten years prior she was running as fast as her legs would carry her from the source of her torment and anguish.

For some reason no matter how hard she tried, she always seemed to be running from her past, from the truths she hated; the fact her family was dead and what little was left would never acknowledge her, the man she loved was too far from reach, still haunted by the death of his love and the mortality of the world around him. That she too, was far too mortal.

As she fell to her knees in some unknown part of the forest, tears falling from her cheeks onto the grass below, Caterina felt the weight of everything once more upon her, crushing her into the dirt. Pain and sorrow overwhelmed and not for the first time; the Duchess of Milan broke.


End file.
